


Son of Gallimaufry

by AJHall



Series: Gallimaufry: Being A Collection of Divers Comment-fics, Drabbles and Snippets [2]
Category: Cabin Pressure, Gondal - Bronte children, LoPiverse - Fandom, Sherlock (TV), Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome, The Charioteer - Mary Renault, Torchwood, Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-17
Updated: 2014-09-17
Packaged: 2018-02-17 18:19:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 1,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2318888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AJHall/pseuds/AJHall
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>More cross-over snippets from the Black Lagoon</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Giant Rats of Kama Sumatra

"Yes, Mycroft, of course I'm aware of 'Captain' Jack Harkness. Functionally immortal - though not, on the cellular level, technically ageless. Although the results are unlikely to become noticeable for at least two centuries, that fact causes him considerable low-level anxiety at present, speaking both to an inherently monumental vanity and his underlying imposter syndrome, caused by his being promoted well beyond his level of competence and living in dread his failings will be discovered, which in turn leads to his surrounding himself with barely competent subordinates whom he binds to him by cultivating an air of mystery, keeping strict (though not strict enough) gatekeeping watch over their access to alien technologies and by sexual manipulation, the sole area in which he might scrape a leading alpha grade."

"Pleased to meet ya too, Mr Holmes. And now you've got the insults off your chest - and very fine-looking it is, too, especially in that purple shirt - are you with us or against us?"

"Giant space rats infesting the London sewers, emerging to carry out precisely targeted assaults on members of the British Establishment? My dear brother being forced to come cap in hand not just to me - as always - but to an organisation whose entire existence he sees as a personal affront? Wouldn't miss it for the world."


	2. The Insight of the King

" _I'll_ talk to the boy."

The disputants reeled back, shocked at the intervention from that hitherto overlooked corner of the room. In the three meetings of Council that had taken place since the succession, none of them could recall the King's speaking before.

Holderness rallied first. "Your grace?"

King Rollo pulled himself upright in his chair with what seemed to be an immense effort. "Oh, you learned men may be able to decide when comets appear and whether Plato has Pliny confounded or t'other way round, but you can't see what's plain in front of you. We've got a boy come back from two years abroad, moping around doing nothing but playing his damned violin for hours at a time, barely eating enough to keep a bird alive and not talking to anyone unless it's to call him an idiot and order him out of his sight. Well, isn't it obvious - to someone who's got an atom of sense? The boy's left his heart behind in Gondal. So I'll talk to him; find out what we can do to distract him out of it."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Slightly AU WDMTGTS - assumes Commander Walker was about twenty-four hours late at Flushing/Vlissingen.)

"It was the most extraordinary thing, mynheer." The old pilot waved his glass, his eyes shining with enthusiasm. "Four children - four English children - and a small cat, across the Nord Sea, in all the wind and rain we had yesterday. And such a small boat for the crossing - no more than 7.6 metres, or a little less. Come, mynheer. I will show you."

Ralph, paid off that morning, had had rather more enterprising plans for the evening, but it never did to upset harbour pilots, and the old man was one of the best. Besides, the story intrigued him. He gestured towards the mooring box at the far end.

"The cutter, with the tan sails?"

"Ja, mynheer. _Goblin_ of Pin Mill."

"Jim Brading's boat?" His world turned upside down.

The pilot looked at him doubtfully. "Brading? Ja, the name on the ship's papers was Brading. But the owner, he was not aboard. I was telling you -"

_Brading!_

"I knew Jim Brading at school. He'd not have left a pile of kids to fend for themselves, not anchored in a fog. Take me there, please. If something's gone wrong, I'd best be getting Brading's boat back to England for him."


	4. Encounter in Angria

"Ah. Good morning. It is long since we saw you in Glasstown, ma'am."

"Indeed yes. I started to find the air of the city very confining. Almost stifling, one might say. Though perhaps those who have known nothing else find it easier, for want of the contrast. And the jubilee festival is indeed very brilliant - have you been enjoying the sports?"

"Indeed so - though I confess, my dear lady, to have been a trifle disappointed in my wagering. That yellow-haired boy - who would have expected an unknown to take the men's long race, and by such a margin?"

"My friend Doctor Watson here, for one. We're off to enjoy his winnings. But I'm surprised you call the boy an unknown - to the general public, perhaps, but surely you recollect the circumstances we saw him last?"

"I can't say I do - surely he cannot have been a patient? Such a picture of rude health as he is?"

"Is he not?" John tucked her arm more closely under his. "I am doubly in my lady's debt. Our athlete presents a very model of what we should see as possible when setting a compound fracture. And to think not five years ago the surgeon with the biggest reputation in Glasstown - I trust you do not find the claim excessive, sir - declared in the face of the whole Anatomy school that the boy must certainly lose the leg, and without amputation his life with it, and that it was only a womanish squeamishness that withheld the knife. Doubtless the echoes of that pronouncement increased yet further the odds I could obtain. For that I am exceedingly in your debt. Good day, sir."


	5. Understandable Indiscretion of a Duchess'  Brother-in-Law

"Ah yes. You were a juror, I recall. On the Vane trial. I owe you, I rather suspect, one of the more improbable victories of my career."

"I followed my conscience, Sir Impey. And prayed for guidance. As I have in the current matter. Sir Impey, please believe me. Lord Peter - so good, so truly devoted to justice - would never have shot the Duchess, however much - whatever family friction there may have been. I am sure we must both agree on that."

"I hate to break this to you, but the Attorney-General, for one, will require something rather more convincing than a character witness, however devout, Miss Climpson. And if Wimbles refuses to provide an explanation for his actions -"

"-then you and I, Sir Impey, must find one. Oh, I know what you must be thinking, and, indeed, I did wonder before coming here whether it was not very presumptious on my part. But I took thought for the widow's mite, and so must you, Sir Impey. Whatever trifle I can bring to matters is at your disposal."


	6. They Named It Once

"Douglas; if you are contemplating any form of con, scheme, scam, diversion or unauthorised movement of goods whatsoever, kindly remember who founded this city."

"Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Junior, wasn't it? _One town that won't let you down/It's my kind of town._ "

"Two points, Douglas. First, that was Chicago, and secondly not only _will_ Las Vegas let you down, it practically constitutes its mission statement. No, Douglas. I strictly forbid you from trying anything whatsoever from the moment we enter US air-space until the moment we leave again. Is that clear?"

"Clear as the proverbial spring-water."

"Then could you tell me what this rigged roulette wheel is doing in the cockpit closet?"


	7. The Shrewsbury Sorceress

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lopiverse AU, crossover with _Gaudy Night_

"I see. Bit of a bally dark horse, your Miss Chattox, isn't she?"

"Yes. I can't find out what school she went to - I suspect it wasn't - well, I don't want to sound snobbish, but she really has the most frightful Lancashire accent and there's something about her manners that - well, it's not even that she's not quite, quite; she's absolutely not at all, and doesn't behave as if she gives a damn about it either. But look here." Her finger came down on the relevant page.

"Yes; I see what you mean, Harriet. During the fuses affair, you say you first saw Miss Chattox by the door to the JCR; you saw her again in front of the library and then in the centre of the Front Quad."

"Yes; and I simply can't see how she could have got between those places in the time she had. Not unless she'd flown, anyway!"


	8. Two Powers Walk Into a Principality

"Oh, dear, yes. The drains had to come up - and with the Prince of Wales in the house, too, though fortunately Mrs Keppel was there too, and she helped calm things down, such a relief."

"Sensible mistresses can make life so much simpler all round, can't they? Prince Serg could have been almost manageable, if he'd had a mistress instead of that appalling Vorrutyer man egging him on every step of the way. Though don't let Cordelia know I said so..."

**Author's Note:**

> See previous [ Gallimaufry, Not To Mention Salmagundi, At Large ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2318729/chapters/5104580)
> 
> Another collection of snippets, crossovers and character interactions


End file.
